The BGEA is now apparently promoting Alpha Course.
Billy Graham himself, inviting Nicky Gumbel to do a workshop on the Alpha
Course at Amsterdam 2000 (A2K), is quoted by Alpha News Online as following:
Mr Graham wrote, “Your experience and expertise as a leader will
be a great asset to the conference, and participants will gain invaluable
knowledge and insight from the content of the workshop.” Read
the following news story about Amsterdam 2000 (A2K).

Billy Graham invited Alpha speaker Nicky Gumbel to present a workshop
at the recent Amsterdam 2000 conference (7/27 Wisc. Report). The Alpha
course is very ecumenical and comes from an Anglican source (see 5/1 CC).
It is compatible with Catholic teaching, and used by Catholic, liberal,
charismatic, and other denominations.

Here's the full text of the Alpha News Online story at
where Alpha Course was invited to A2K:

Billy Graham has invited Alpha leader Nicky Gumbel to speak at a
major conference he is organising in Amsterdam, Netherlands, this July.
Mr Gumbel has been asked to speak at a workshop on the Alpha course at
the conference, to be attended by 10,000 evangelists from around the world.
Mr Graham wrote, “Your experience and expertise as a leader will be a great
asset to the conference, and participants will gain invaluable knowledge
and insight from the content of the workshop.” The Amsterdam conference
is seen as an opportunity for evangelists across the world to come together.
Meanwhile, a group of well-known evangelists and church including Luis
Palau and Paul Cedar, head of Mission America – have written letters to
encourage churches to run Alpha courses and attend training conferences.
Their letters have been sent to thousands of Christian leaders all over
the country with details of the 25 conferences being held in the year 2000.
Evangelist
Luis Palau wrote, “I thank God for the way Alpha is turning the focus of
churches on evangelistic outreach. Churches that are running Alpha courses
have new enthusiasm for evangelism and are leading people to Jesus Christ...
The Alpha course is a first rate tool in our day to live out the Christian
mission.” Paul Cedar wrote, “I rejoice and give our Lord thanks for
the wonderful way He is using the Alpha ministry throughout the United
States and around the world. “Inviting friends, family or work colleagues
to an Alpha course is an outstanding way to share the love and grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ in a non-threatening environment.” George Gallup,
Jnr., of the Gallup polling organisation, wrote, “Out of England has come
an exciting course that is moving churches around the world from maintenance
to mission.

Letters of support: (l to r) Luis Palau, Paul Cedar and George Gallup

“Alpha is a well-designed, implementable course that addresses the
basic questions of life for the churched and unchurched alike.

“Through Alpha, Jesus Christ is capturing the hearts and minds of
an ever-growing number of persons. The course meets the vital test of being
both open and faithful – welcoming of all, while presenting the gospel
message with clarity and power.”

In an address to 200 Christian clergy and leaders at Wayne Presbyterian
Church, in Wayne, Pennsylvania, Mr Gallup said that polls revealed that
in the last four years, the percentage of persons seeking ‘spiritual growth’
had risen by 24 points to 82 per cent. “Surveys suggest a dramatic growth
in interest in spirituality and hunger for God, a turning away from materialism
and the hedonism of our age,” he said. “Alpha is an entry program seeking
to get people excited about what Jesus Christ can mean in a person’s life.”

Meanwhile, Pat Robertson, the influential religious broadcaster
and former presidential candidate, wrote of his support for Alpha. He
said, “Alpha provides a unique teaching tool which brings to the new Christian
outstanding integration of Biblical truths with practical applications
for everyday life.”

(Emphasis added by DITC)

Of course it is of little wonder that BGEA would allow
Alpha Course to be promoted at A2K since some of the main speakers BGEA
invited to A2K are also endorsers of the Alpha Course (http://www.alphacanada.org/resources/endorsements.html).
The list of speakers at A2K can be viewed at the A2K Webcast site at:

Here are a few examples of the "big names" who spoke at
A2K who think Alpha Course is the cat's meow:

"The Alpha course is a most engaging way of passing on the
basics of Christianity. It is a tool for evangelism and nurture that I
highly recommend." - J.I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College,
Vancouver

"Alpha seems especially blessed in that the Lord is using it to reach
all sorts of people in all sorts of spiritual conditions." - Luis Pilau,
Evangelist

By the way, these men who were major speakers at A2K are
in some interesting company in giving their endorsement to Alpha Course,
as evidenced below.

"Alpha is ingenious in the way that it brings people into
a private setting by invitation. So you are accommodating the 20th Century
culture in a very manageable and functional way and I am thrilled with
it. I am not surprised to hear of its immediate acceptance and use by hundreds
of churches all over the world." - John Wimber, Association of Vineyard
Churches

"One of the most effective tools of evangelism in the Body of Christ
in the United Kingdom is the Alpha course. This new and effective course
has exploded, being used by hundreds of churches, resulting in thousands
of new believers being integrated into the local church. The enthusiasm
is spreading rapidly. I wholeheartedly recommend Nicky Gumbel's excellent
leadership. God has blessed the church greatly in raising up Nicky to trumpet
the Alpha Course." - Mike Bickle, Metro Vineyard Fellowship, U.S.A.

"Alpha is a soul winning, discipling, multiplying, spiritually dynamic
ministry that has already touched the lives of thousands. I believe this
vision will continue to expand and truly become an international blessing."
- Loren Cunningham, Youth With A Mission International (YWAM)

For those of you who are uninformed about the unbiblical
and heretical teachings of the Alpha Course as well as it's roots in the
Third Wave movement out of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF)
by way of Anglican churches in England, following are a number of articles
you need to read. The fact that Billy Graham and BGEA planned on
promoting this dangerous course at a conference geared toward Christian
leaders should raise the hairs on the back of your neck! This is
yet another indication that the days to support what BGEA is doing are
coming to a close. Why? Basically it is due to their obviously ecumenical
agenda and their sending of new converts back to the Roman Catholic Church
to be discipled. What good does it do to preach the gospel then send
people back to be discipled in an apostate church? What good would
it be to send a newly former drunk who is on the wagon back to the bar
he used to hang out at and tell him he should stay there?